If you are a down-to-earth sort, this might sound slightly alien – but almost half of Britons believe in little green men.

A poll of more than 2,000 adults found that 44 per cent are of the opinion extra-terrestrial life exists.

Men have the most faith in alien beings, with 46 per cent of those surveyed for the Royal Society, the country’s most prestigious scientific body, claiming that we are not alone in the universe.

The truth is out there: Almost half of Britons believe in UFOs, such as the 'Dudley Dorito', spotted three times in recent years in UK skies

Reach out: A third of people questioned said we should actively be trying to make contact with aliens

And interest in ‘life but not as we know it’ does not end there, with more than a third of those questioned saying we should be actively trying to make contact with ET.

But that mission is made all the more difficult because opinion is divided on exactly what we’re looking for.

Professor Simon Conway Morris, a Cambridge University expert on evolution, said: ‘It might be that perhaps many centuries in the future we come back from an exhibition and give something to a mineralogist and he rings us up the next day and says, “By the way, you’ve just brought back an alien.”

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1334217/Aliens-DO-exist-half-British-public-believes.html#ixzz16kTW4Cds

It's perfectly reasonable to believe that aliens exist, but the UFO figure seems to high to me. With this being the daily mail, it makes you wonder about the questions they were asked.

I'd suspect that they were asked something like "Do you believe in the possibility of UFO's". Which the mail would then twist as they are prone to do.

My wife is an Alien ( no other rational explanation )

Come to think about it, ALL wives are. How else do you explain the ability to see long black hair on clothing from fifty yards away ? In addition, explain in any other way, the power to smell perfume at a greater distance than any known bloodhound !!!!............Aliens the lot of them.

My wife is an Alien ( no other rational explanation )

Come to think about it, ALL wives are. How else do you explain the ability to see long black hair on clothing from fifty yards away ? In addition, explain in any other way, the power to smell perfume at a greater distance than any known bloodhound !!!!............Aliens the lot of them.

My wife's got a sniffer like that. If only I could convince her to use her powers in the service of good rather than evil and suspicion, like finding truffles for instance.

My wife is an Alien ( no other rational explanation )

Come to think about it, ALL wives are. How else do you explain the ability to see long black hair on clothing from fifty yards away ? In addition, explain in any other way, the power to smell perfume at a greater distance than any known bloodhound !!!!............Aliens the lot of them.

My wife's got a sniffer like that. If only I could convince her to use her powers in the service of good rather than evil and suspicion, like finding truffles for instance.

The French use their wives for that.....i've seen it on the telly.....

It's perfectly reasonable to believe that aliens exist, but the UFO figure seems to high to me. With this being the daily mail, it makes you wonder about the questions they were asked.

I'd suspect that they were asked something like "Do you believe in the possibility of UFO's". Which the mail would then twist as they are prone to do.

Agreed, and the main question being, why would they even bother coming here? seems like a total waste of a trip.

Everyone in the USA believes in aliens. They are ALWAYS complaining about illegal aliens... especially from Mexico.

Well SETI has got nothing on Australia's Labor Party. Since Labor has held the reins of federal government, aliens have been making a beeline for Australia's shores in all manner of weird and wonderful craft.

80+ MILLION of illegal aliens in NZ.

Mostly Ockors.

Gotta kill them all, Govt policy.

It's perfectly reasonable to believe that aliens exist, but the UFO figure seems to high to me. With this being the daily mail, it makes you wonder about the questions they were asked.

I'd suspect that they were asked something like "Do you believe in the possibility of UFO's". Which the mail would then twist as they are prone to do.

Agreed, and the main question being, why would they even bother coming here? seems like a total waste of a trip.

Aliens, should they exist, probably view planet Earth much the same way many on this forum view Pattaya. A lawless, dirty sleazy joint good only for cheap sex and all day drinking.

I wonder if Aliens are rotund beings with a fondness for applying strange patterns to their outer covering and a propensity for falling off stools?

Anyway how do we know that Aliens didn't arrive on Earth several hundred thousand years ago and, finding conditions ideal for their life, swarmed and multiplied sending many of the indigenous species to extinction along the way? These Aliens now consider themselves to be galactic nationals of Earth, thus no longer subject to visa restrictions, and have classified themselves as an earthly species; Homo Sapiens.

Well SETI has got nothing on Australia's Labor Party. Since Labor has held the reins of federal government, aliens have been making a beeline for Australia's shores in all manner of weird and wonderful craft.

Yes, have to do something about those NZ yachtmen.

If you have a spare 2 hours, this is worth watching - gets you thinking and is actually quite interesting once you get past the rather cheesy introductory speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vyVe-6YdUk

Watch the news today. I think that NASA are going to make a statement about extraterrestrial life (maybe microbial but we'll have to wait and see).

Found this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20101201/sc_ac/7316534_what_is_nasas_secret_astrobiology_announcement

Maybe no aliens then:

Multiple, reliable sources within the Astrobiology community tell me that NASA's Astrobiology announcement tomorrow concerns Arsenic-based biochemistry and the implications for the origin of life on Earth, how it may have happened more than once on our planet, and the implications for life arising elsewhere in the universe. NASA has not found life on any other world.

That said, as a biologist, I have to say that this is exciting stuff. It shows that other biochemistries are possible - more than just "life as we know it" and that the possible places where "life" could exist in the universe are now much more numerous as a result. What other biochemistries are possible? I am certain we'll be hearing much more about this.

NASA's announcement has me just a little excited.

(I blinked twice today and yawned once)

I really hope it's something interesting and not just some fossilised basic cell in a rock, or evidence that water once existed on Saturns seventh moon.

It's about time for some meaty UFO news!

(and North Korea to join the world. As a totally unrelated thing on the wish list )

It's about time for some meaty UFO news!

(and North Korea to join the world. As a totally unrelated thing on the wish list )

I thought North Koreans WERE aliens. They sure act like it, and their fearless leader is a dead ringer for someone from a different galaxy.